Sparks of the Forgotten
by LogicOfMae
Summary: When Bernadette - an English dental nurse, in the modern day - is ambushed by a man, who claims that she comes from another land called The Enchanted Forest, she is understandably hesitant to believe him. However, it becomes harder to deny the impossible when they arrive in Storybrooke, a place of magic, evil and (as becomes increasingly obvious) the key to her identity...


**SPARKS OF THE FORGOTTEN **

**Part One**

*****_This is a Once Upon A Time Fanfiction, which centres around original characters, whilst incorporating the ones from the series. It uses the setting of storybrooke from around Season 2 (which is as far as I've gotten myself). I will be adding my own twists.*_

I knew I was being followed.

As I left the dental surgery, the heels of my boots clicking a nervous drumbeat on the pavement, I felt something prickle down my spine. I wasn't the friendliest of people - somehow without even trying, I often ended rubbing people up the wrong way - and so I did perhaps have a handful of enemies. But the kind that "don't send you a Christmas card" not the kind that "follow you down a back alley". No.

Something was wrong.

I hastened my pace. The day was fast drawing to a close and though the sun still hung on the horizon, it was sinking with every minute. I liked this time of day…but not on my way home from work, alone.

I hugged my coat tighter to my body. It was becoming a little chilly; the autumn weather was slowly colouring the avenue tree leaves to a host of rusty hues. One tugged itself free and drifted down, tangling itself in my brunette curls. Sighing, I picked out the flakes which crumbled into my gloves, a deep purple leather which I adored, and undoubtedly made me look a total mess. Well, what was a girl to do?

That prickle, again, dancing in my spine. I shuddered, glancing around myself. The street behind me, the surgery, was empty. Too empty. My breath jittery, I turned back to the path ahead and nearly collided with a man.

"Hello," he said mildly.

"Woah!" I exclaimed, stumbling backwards a step, my gloved hands flinging upwards to protect myself. He didn't even flinch, his hands remained clasped loosely behind his back as I flailed wildly, buying myself time to assess the threat he posed.

He looked around 23-ish, the same age as me, with dark, unkempt hair and fathomless blue eyes that seemed to glitter an unnatural colour of blue. His lips twisted in a tight smile whilst I regained my bearings, involving me backing off a considerable distance and stuffing one hands into the pocket where my mobile phone lay. I may be clumsy but I'm not a complete idiot.

"Done?" he asked, raising an eyebrow coolly.

"Um, I guess. Can I help you?" I asked cautiously, edging around him in a wide circle. He looked thoughtful.

"I do believe you can. Firstly…do you know who I am?"

Was this a joke, or something?

"No, um, sorry," I said, trying not to offend him whilst answering his question honestly.

An unreadable expression flashed across his feature but was gone, before I could interpret it. His laidback façade returned.

"And your name?"

"Bernadette Saltsman" I replied automatically, before I realised it probably wasn't a great idea to give this potential kidnapper/murderer information about myself. He frowned.

"Oh. Makes sense, I guess."

Riiiiiight, I thought, what an odd comment to respond with.

"Yep," I said, making to leave but he lurched forward to grab my arm, to my alarm.

"Please," he pleaded with a surprising begging appeal to his tone, "Don't run. We need to talk. The café down the road?"

I could see the café front from here – it wasn't dead, but by no means busy – an inviting glow emanating from the glass storefront. My eyes scanned the grip he had on my arm, weighing up the pros and cons in my mind.

"And you'll leave me alone?" I said and he nodded slowly.

"If you come with me."

I shrugged. I wasn't expected back for quite a while, yet.

"Fine. But don't try anything."

The strong smell of coffee added to the cosy feel of the small café, as we shuffled in and chose a table for two by the window, in full view of the counter to deter the stranger from attempting anything. He ordered two hot chocolates and I was too dazed to even notice, until the waitress returned with one of my favourite hot drinks. I frowned.

"How-?"

"Everyone loves a hot chocolate on a day like today," he said with a grin, sipping his own. My eyes not leaving him, I waited for him to talk.

"So, um," he began, appearing nervous for the first time as he rubbed the back of his neck. The action seemed familiar on him somehow, though I hadn't a clue why. I nursed my own hot chocolate, holding the cup between my hands to keep my fingers from going completely numb.

"You don't belong here."

"Excuse me?"

"No, I mean, you come from elsewhere. Tell me, Bernadette, do you believe in fairytales?"

He seemed deadly serious but the question sounded so absurd that I snorted with laughter as I took another sip of hot chocolate. He had virtually kidnapped me…to have a philosophical debate? I leaned backwards on my chair and eyed the servers at the counter who were thankfully in plain sight.

"I mean I guess they may have been based on real pe-"

"Not in _this _world. Magic. Do you believe in magic?"

I didn't bother laughing.

"Well, no. It doesn't exist."

His expression tightened.

"Right," he said tersely, "I suspected this would be the case but I had hoped otherwise."

He took an agonizingly long sip of his own hot chocolate before placing it back down on the table.

"You're not human."

"What?" I said with a nervous laugh, "You know this joke isn't very funny."

He didn't even smile.

"It's no joke. You, me and a whole townful of people come from a place called the Enchanted Forest – well, most of them – which is a realm separate from the one you think you belong to. An evil queen, obsessed with vengeance, cast a curse that sent us all here and made us forget our identities. A little while ago, a woman – a saviour – broke the curse and made the town people remember who they were. That is, to cut a long story short."

This guy was clearly out of his mind.

"Right," I said slowly, trying not to anger the crazy man "So where exactly to I come into this?"

His eyes widened as he scrambled to answer, as though he hadn't expected me to go along with it.

"Well after the saviour broke the curse, she only kind of broke _half_ of the curse. We were still stuck in Storybrooke and if anyone were to leave the town, they would forget again and assume their earth identity. You crossed the town line."

It was quite clever actually; how his mind had managed to construct such a detailed, complex lie.

"And you want me to go back with you?"

He nodded enthusiastically.

"Yes."

"Right. Just give me a second to absorb it," I said, grabbing my handbag and pushing out from my chair. I headed towards the Ladies' and once inside, closed my eyes for a moment. Why did I always attract these kind of people? It was like I had a lunatic magnet attached to my forehead. I scanned the area for a window and found a small, frosted one that I reckoned I could just about squeeze through. I strode over to it and unhooked the latch, cracking it open. Yep – there was just enough space to accommodate for my petite form. I chucked my handbag through and followed it, throwing my right leg through before slithering after it. I finally got my left leg through, tumbling to the tarmac below the window. Scrambling up, I rubbed the shoulder I had landed on. Nothing too bad, hopefully.

"My, my – different name, but you haven't changed a bit," a low voice said from behind me.


End file.
